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Unit 1: Computer Systems
'Introduction (suggested time spent: 50 mins)' Unit objectives: #'Define what a computer system is;' # Know the fundamental hardware components that make up a computer’s hardware and the role of each; # Know the difference between an operating system and an application software; # Name and describe each component inside the Input-Process-Output (IPOS) Cycle; #'Name and describe examples of computer system.' 'Definition' According to WordNet, a computer system is defined as, "A system of one or more computers and associated software with common storage." The above definition explicitly named two components: hardware and software, sharing a common storage, as what constitutes a computer system. Plenty of examples out there. We use a computer system in banking, retails, health, travels, education ... basically any tasks that involve the storing and processing of bulk data would benefit by being computerised. A computer system may consist of a single standalone computer, or a grid of networked computers. It may require a single software, or a multitude of software. A computer system may even appear in a different form than your conventional concept of one, for example, you can find one inside your water heater! 'Computer hardware' Let's start by learning about the common hardware of a standard desktop computer system by reading this article (Required activity, 5 mins). How many can you name without looking at the legend? 'Computer software' Hardware are useless, unless you consider room decoration as a valid purpose, if we can't give them instructions to do something. The instructions is in the form of software, written using a programming language by programmers. Software can be categorised into two types: operating systems and applications. Watch this short video (Required activity, 2 mins) introducing the concept of operating system. What about applications? Or in short: apps? Watch this short video introducing the concept of apps (Required activity, 2 mins). Now, let us look at this diagram (Required activity, 1 min). What does the diagram tells us? An application acts as the intermediary between the user and the operating system, whilst the operating system acts the intermediary between the application and the hardware. This concept is best explained by Figure 1 found in this page (Required activity, 1 min). The application, i.e., a word processor, handles user inputs and perform tasks. In order to do that, the application requires resources provided by the computer hardware, such as memory, CPU et cetera, and those resources are in turn, managed by the operating system. 'The IPOS cycle' All computer systems operate using the information processing cycle, also know as the Input-Process-Output (IPOS) Cycle. The concept is explained in this video (Required activity, 5 mins). A computer system requires some form of inputs, which are later processed (and stored) to generate outputs. Think of a computer system, e.g., an automated teller machine (ATM), or a self-checkout machine at your local supermarket. Can you identify the input(s), the process(es) involved, and the output(s) (Required activity, 6 mins)? 'Examples of Computer systems' There is a restaurant in California USA, i.e., STACKED , that offer an innovative ordering approach using computer as the medium. Customers can customise their meal, paying only for the ingredients that they truly want. How cool is that? Watch this short video (Required activity, 2 mins) and salivate! Now, can you name the IPOS cycle components of that computer system (Required activity, 6 mins)? Please name two more examples and identify the IPOS cycle components for each (Required activity, 3 mins)? 'Advances in Computer systems (suggested time spent: 50 minutes)' Unit objectives: #'Know what all the highlighted terms in bold in the text mean;' #'State the effect of each advances in making our life easier.' 'Wearable computer' Wearable computer is the next big thing in computing. It is defined as miniature electronic devices that are worn by the bearer under, with or on top of clothing (Mann, 1996). Examples are aplenty. We have all heard of Google Glass , a project by Google Inc., that is utimately aimed to replace handheld smartphones. Apart from accessibility, these devices are worn on a specific part of the human body to either measure something, e.g., pulses and body temperature, or to capture data from our senses, e.g., vision and touch. This enable a passive monitoring of the user, allowing the computer system to pro-actively react to the user current state without needing the user to manually insert an input to the system. Instead of wearing them, why not implant an actual computer inside your body?! Prof. Kevin Warwick of Reading University did just that by surgically inserting implants into his forearm! The implanted chip functions as a radio transponder broadcasting his medical record, VISA details et cetera. In the next stage of his transformation, he surgically attached microelectrode array to the median nerve fibres on his left arm to measure nerve signals, allowing him to control devices in a Jedi-like manner (i.e., remotely). Watch his fascinating TED talk here (Required activity, 21 mins). 'Embedded computer' An embedded computer is a combination of special-purpose hardware and software designed to perform a specific task. The hardware typically consist of a single microprocessor board, with the software stored in Read-only memory (ROM). Since the system is dedicated to a specific task, it can be optimised by reducing the size and the cost of the product (by removing unnecessary features). Now, quickly scan your room. Can you find two examples of embedded computer inside your room? (Required activity, 5 mins). Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized computer, capable of doing many wonderful things. People are installing it into electronic pet feeders, garden watering systems, home theaters et cetera, hence it can be classified as an embedded computer when used in that manner. Watch this animated video (Required activity, 2 mins) on Raspberry Pi, and this video discussing five Raspberry Pi projects (Required activity, 3 mins). 'Computer as Transparent Helpers (suggested time spent: 20 minutes)' Unit objectives: #'Define what the term "Computer as Transparent Helpers" means' #'List out scenarios requiring computer as transparent helpers' 'Overview' This idea of having a computer to make decision (not all!) for us is attractive since the human race is not known for preferring repetitive and mundane tasks. Computers are already making decisions for us i. in tasks that we sort of know how they work, but too lazy to execute them ourselves, e.g., parking a car , ii. in tasks that are too difficult to execute for an average person, e.g., Electronic Stability Control , and iii) in tasks that we do not have a clue how the process works, e.g., Ji et al.'s Real-Time Nonintrusive Monitoring and Prediction of Driver Fatigue , so we let a computer to discover the best (i.e., optimal) decision, using hidden patterns gleaned from the observed data. As transparent helpers, computers are designed to be context aware. What this means is that the user does not need to manually enter an input into the computer system. Instead, the computer makes decisions based on a series of passive observations via the use of sensors. For example, to park a car, the sensors would establish the spatial position of the car and the targeted parking space, as well as the obstacles that lie on the projected path. Using this data, the computer calculates the best way to manoeuvre the car into the parking space. Being context-aware is closely related to the ultimate vision of ubiquitous computing, "The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it." M. Weiser (1991). Transparent here refers to the computer disappearing - not in the physical sense, but from a psychological perspective. 'Example scenarios' A brilliant example of a scenario where computer acts as transparent helpers can be found in this work by Kris M. Kitani et al. To summarise, their algorithm detects the type of movement a person is performing, e.g., walk, jump, run et cetera, based on the camera's (worn on the person's body) gross motion. Watch this video (Required activity, 3 mins), and see the impressive accuracy of the detection (of movement types). Imagine having this technology to aid you in your exercise routines. After each session ... 'References' 1. Mann, Steve (2013). Wearable Computing. In: Soegaard, Mads and Dam, Rikke Friis (eds.), The Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction, 2nd Ed.. Aarhus, Denmark: The Interaction Design Foundation. Available online at http://www.interaction-design.org/encyclopedia/wearable_computing.html